Knitted fabric and method of making the same



April -v G. GASTRICH 2,077,557

KNITTElj FABRIC AND METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME Filed March 9, 193s-QSheets-Sheet 1 F1. :s-Ql- INVENTOR:

April 20, 1937.

*' Patented Apr. 20, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE KNITTED FABRIC ANDMETHOD OF MAKING THE SAME

Application March 9,

1 Claim.

This invention relates to knitted fabrics and articles of wearingapparel, such as silk stockings or the like, made therefrom, and to anovel method of making the same. 1

As is well known, the silk thread or yarn from which hosiery and similararticles are made is graded according to its evenness, expressed inpercentage, the silk varying from 68% evenness, usually regarded as alow grade silk, to 92% which is an extra fine grade. Since the price ofsilk having the higher percentage of evenness is much higher than theprice of silk of lower-percentage of evenness, the lower pricedstockings are commonly knit from silk of an evenness of from 68% to 78%,while the higher priced stockings are knit from the better grades ofsilk.

Not only does silk thread or yarn of difierent grades differ inevenness, but in silk of the same grade there is often a variation inevenness of the 2 yarn, even though the silk may come from the samefilature, and various lengths of the yarn,

often several yards long, will have a diameter either greater or lessthan the average diameter ofthe yarn, this condition occurring at moreor 25 less regular intervals throughout the yarn.

In the production of hosiery, particularly 1 ladies stockings, thisvariation in evenness of the silk frequently causes one or morecoursewise extending rings or bands to appear in the stock- 30 ing whichdifier in shading and appearance from the body of the stocking. Theseelfects are readily observed after the dying and boarding process, andare especially noticeable when the stocking is stretched on the leg ofthe wearer. The

v 35 number of stockings showing the effects of variation in evennessoften reaches large proportions, resulting in an excessive number ofsecon thus materially increasing the cost. of manufacture of thestockings and substantially curtailing production.

Qne of the objects of the invention is to obviate the abovedisadvantages, and enhance the appearance of articles of wearingapparel, particularly ladies silk stockings, by minimizing or preventingthe efiects caused by variation in evenness of the yarn from which thestocking is knit; more particularly, two or more separate main bodyyarns of the same grade and kind are used in knitting the stocking, theyarns being alternately employed in succeeding courses throughoutsubstantially the entire stocking length, whereby the variation inevenness in any particular length of'one of the yarns is compensated forand its eifect minimized by the adjacent yarn or yarns, so that theoverall effect is free 1933, Serial No. 660,081

from rings or other noticeable efiects ordinarily caused by variation inevenness of the silk.

Another object is to reduce the number of rejections and seconds due tovariation in evenness of the silk, and to enable lower grades of silk tobe used, resulting in increase in production and reducing the cost ofmanufacture of the stockings.

With these and other objects inview, which will become apparent from thefollowing detailed description of the illustrative embodiments of theinvention shown in the accompanying drawings, my invention resides inthe novel fabrics and a1- ticles, and method of producing the same, ashereinafter more particularly pointed out in the claim.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a full fashioned stocking embodyingthe invention;

Figs. 2 and 3 are diagrammatic views of the foot and leg portions,respectively, of the flat knitted blank of the stocking of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic view of the loop formation of the fabric ofFigs. 2 and 3; and

Figs. 5 and 6 are diagrammatic views of a modification of the inventionshown in the other figures.

Referringto Fig. 1 there is shown a full fashioned silk stocking of thetype produced on a straight knitting machine, the stocking havmg a weltl, leg portion 8, instep 9, heel l0, sole I I, and toe l2.

Usually, and as shown, prises a sheer non-reinforced area in which theundesirable eifects of rings or stripes caused by variation in evennessof the silk are especially pronounced. The stocking is preferably madeon the Reading full fashioned knitting ma.- chine, the various parts arewell known in the art, and are shown and described in detail in theReading Full Fashioned Knitting Machine catalogue (copyright 1929)published by the-Textile Machine Works, Reading, Pennsylvania.

Fig. 3 illustrates one method of knitting a stocking blank comprisingthe welt and leg portions of the stocking of Fig. 1. Instead of using asingle yarn for the main body yarn and employing one main yarn carrierasheretoi'ore, two separate yarns of the same grade and kind, carried bytwo main yarn carriers, are used to the stocking leg com-- and operationof which form the main bodyyarn, the separate yarns respectively formingadjacent courses and alternating in succeeding courses throughout thefabric. In the figure, the horizontal lines between the picot edge [4and topping-on course l5 diagrammatically represent the path of travelof the main yarn carriers in a legger on which the blank is made. Thearrows on the lines indicate the direction of travel in successivecourses of the yarn carriers, shown in this instance as carriers Nos. 2and 4, although it will be understood that various other throughcarriers, for example, Nos. 1 and 3, may likewise be used. The method ofcontrolling the carriers to alternate the yarns in succeeding coursesthroughout the fabric is as follows:

One of the carriers, such as No. 2 carrier, is caused to traverse theknitting field from right to left, as viewed in Figs. 3 and 4, and laythe yarn to form a course 2a, and in the succeeding course the carriertravels from left to right, thus forming two adjacent courses 2a fromthe yarn carried by No. 2 carrier, the No. 4 carrier being held at thistime at the right hand side of the blank. In the succeeding two courses4a, No. 2 carrier is held atthe right hand side of the blank, and No. 4carrier is caused to travel from right to left in one course and returnin the succeeding course, as. indicated by the arrows, thus forming thecourses do from the yarn carried by No. 4 carrier.

The yarn of the succeeding two courses 2a is again laid by No. 2carrier, and No. 4 is held as in the former case. In this manner theyarns carried by Nos. 2 and 4 carriers are caused to alternate insucceeding courses throughout substantially the entire length of the legportion of the stocking, as indicated by the horizontal lines extendingacross the blank, and the effect of variation in evenness in one or morelengths of either of the yarns is minimized or compensated for by theother yarn in the adjacent course, so that no rings or bands areobservable. As stated above, the alternate feeding of the yarns by thecarriers in succeeding courses is continued throughout the length of thestocking leg, and preferably through the instep.

It will be noted that when one of the carriers is laying the yarn in anygiven course, the other carrier is not taken completely out of action,but is caused to traverse a distance of two or three wales at the righthand selvage edge of the fabric, this travel being indicated by theshort horizontal lines at the right hand side of the blank of Fig. 3.The purpose of this operation is to prevent the formation of loose loopsor ends at the edge of the fabric, and to thus avoid the production of aragged selvage, by the yarn of either of the carriers while waiting forthe return of the other carrier. As will be seen from Fig. 4, thelimited movement given to the waiting carrier causes the yarn of suchcarrier to form two wales of loops at the selvage edge; this not onlyinsures that a tight selvage will be obtained, but also produces areinforced selvage.

While the main yarn carriers are caused to alternately lay their yarnsthroughout the length of the main blank, it is not necessary to carrythis out in the lower ends of the reinforced heel tabs Illa since theeffect of variation in evenness of the yarn is minimized by thereinforcing yarn employed in these areas.

Fig. 2 diagrammatically illustrates that portion of the stocking blankproduced on a footer,

in which two main yarns are alternately employed, in the same manner asin the leg, through the instep portion 8 to the beginning of the toe l2.

It will be understood that it may be unnecessary to employ the inventionin various portions of the stocking, for example, in the welt, or in thelower portion of the leg, as the instep portion, or in the heel and footportions, in which the effects of variation in evenness of the silk willnot be observable or, if observable, will not be objectionable.

The movements of the yarn carriers in the manner stated may readily beobtained on the Reading machine by the use of the well known reinforcedselvage attachment, disclosed and claimed in U. S. Patents Nos.1,713,628, 1,793,669 and 1,833,310, or by stop control mechanism of thetype disclosed and claimed in a copending application of Rudolph Anke,on which U. S. Patent #2,049,887 was issued on August 4, 1936 for Fullfashioned knitting machine, or by any other suitable mechanism known inthe art for controlling the action and extent of traverse of therespective yarn carriers in the manner described.

Figs. 5 and 6 show a modification, in which three separate yarns areemployed to form the main body yarn of the stocking, and three main yarncarriers are used to alternate the positions of the yarns in succeedingcourses throughout the fabric. In the specific embodiment illustrated,Nos. 1, 3 and 6 carriers are employed, although various other throughcarriers may be employed, if desired. Referring to Fig. 5, whichdiagrammatically illustrates the paths of travel of the yarn carriersinsuccessive courses of the stocking blank shown, No. 1 carrier is shownas laying the yarn from left to right to form a course la (shown in theupper part of Fig. 6) from the yarn carried by No. 1 carrier, while Nos.3 and 6 carriers are waiting at the left and right selvage edges"respectively of the blank, except that they are given a limited movementas hereinafter stated. In a succeeding course, which is preferably thecourse 6a adjoining that formed by the yarn of No. 1 carrier, No. 6carrier lays its yarn from right to left, while Nos. 1 and 3 carriersare held at opposite sides respectively of the blank. In the next courseNo. 3 carrier lays its yarn from left to right to form the next course3a, Nos. 1 and 6 carriers being held at the opposite selvages at thistime. The cycle of operation of the carriers is now repeated in thesucceeding three courses, each yarn carrier traveling in an oppositedirection from that of its travel in the preceding course since each ofthe carriers starts from the opposite side of the blank. The three mainyarns are thus caused to alternate throughout substantially the entirelength of the stocking, and thus variation in evenness of one of theyarns is compensated for and its effect minimized or rendered negligibleby the two adjacent yarns so that the over all effect is substantiallyfree from rings or other undesirable effects due to the variation inevenness of the silk.

As indicated in Fig. 5, when the carriers are held at the opposite sidesof the stocking blank they are permitted to traverse two or three walesof the fabric, thus resulting in a clean tight selvage at both edges ofthe blank, shown in Fig. 6. The control and movements of the carriersmay be effected by any of the yarn carrier stop control means abovereferred to.

In the specific embodiment illustrated, the leg and foot portions of theblank are knit on separate machines, viz., a legger and a footer, but itwill be understood that the stocking may or may not be full fashioned,and may be produced on single unit machines, or on various othermachines of the straight type.

While the invention is particularly applicable to silk yarn, it is alsoapplicable to various other kinds of yarn or thread, such as'artiflcialsilk, cotton, or other yarn in which variation in even- 5 ness of theyarn tends to detrimentally afiect the appearance of the article knittherefrom. The invention is obviously not limited to stockings, sincevarious other articles of wearing apparel may be knit in accordance withthe method 10 of the invention to thereby prevent or minimizeundesirable efiects caused by variation in evenness 0! the yarnemployed.

Of course, the improvements specifically shown and described, by which Iobtain the above re- 15 sults, can be changed and modified in variousways without departing from the scope of the invention herein disclosedand hereinafter claimed.

I claim:

A flat knit full-fashioned hosiery blank the leg portion of whichcomprises two yarns knit in four course cycles, one of said yarns beingknit across the entire width of the blank in the first two courses ofeach cycle and being knit only across one selvage in the second twocourses of each cycle, and the other of said yarns being knit onlyacross said one selvage in said first two courses and being knit acrossthe entire width of the blank in said second two courses, whereby saidone selvage is reinforced and the formation of floats due to yarnalternation is obviated.

GUSTAV GASTRICH.

